Potential alliance with Le Pen puts traditional French right on brink of split | European elections 2024 | News

The moderate right of the Republicans (LR), much weakened after seven years of Emmanuel Macron in the Elysee Palace, is on the verge of implosion. The decision of its president, Eric Ciotti, to form an alliance with the far right for early legislative elections on June 30 and July 7 has triggered a revolt among other leaders of the (LR), an allied party…

The moderate right of the Republicans (LR), much weakened after seven years of Emmanuel Macron in the Elysee Palace, is on the verge of implosion. The decision of its president, Eric Ciotti, to form an alliance with the far right for early legislative elections on June 30 and July 7 has triggered a revolt among other leaders of the Spanish PP’s sister party in France (LR).

Ciotti announced this Tuesday his intention to close an agreement between LR and Marine Le Pen’s National Regroupment (RN). The leader of the right has justified the move, which will certainly destroy the decades-long siege against the extreme right, by pointing out the threat that in his opinion both the left-wing coalition and the centrist faction of President Emmanuel Macron represent for France.

“Today the Republicans are too weak to oppose two blocks that are very dangerous,” the LR president said in an interview with the TF1 network this Tuesday. “We need an alliance (with the RN) to continue to exist.” With this alliance, Ciotti intends to guarantee the re-election of his party’s 61 current representatives thanks to RN’s support; in return, LR must support RN candidates in other constituencies so that they do not compete with each other.

The LR, the successor party of the RPR and the UMP of Presidents Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy, claims the legacy of Gaullism for itself. The National Regroupment (RN) is the successor to an older ultra party founded by people who fought against de Gaulle, sometimes with violence, and in some cases collaborated with Nazi Germany.

A “bold decision”, according to Le Pen.

In statements to the France Presse agency, Le Pen celebrated Ciotti’s “courageous decision” and “his sense of responsibility”. He added that “40 years of pseudo-siege, which led to the loss of many elections, is disappearing.” An alliance with LR, or with the remaining members of this party, would be a further step in the normalization process of national regrouping.

Join EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without limits.

Subscribe

By dissolving the National Assembly after Le Pen’s victory in the European elections on Sunday and holding legislative elections three weeks later, Macron could accelerate the process of disintegration of the old political order. Your bet is to capture the call Centre Block

For those on the liberal left and the liberal right, both oppose compromise with extremists.

If LR splits between supporters and opponents of the pact with the extreme right, the dissatisfied could join Macronism, which already includes prominent former leaders of this party. One of them is the current Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who did not hesitate to refer to the 1930s pact with Hitler and declared: “Eric Ciotti signed the Munich agreements and dishonored the Gaullist family by embracing Marine Le Pen. Shame! “The French, let’s wake up!”

Another former Republican and today a Macronist, the current Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, urged, using another term that alludes to the time of the German occupation: “Let us put in place in our majority all elected officials and LR militants who reject collaboration.”

Ciotti’s announcement has angered many in his party, as they believe a coalition with the RN is a betrayal of their principles. 22 years ago, Chirac refused to debate Jean-Marie Le Pen on television; now his heir is seeking a coalition with his daughter.

Olivier Marleux, head of the parliamentary group in the National Assembly, reacted: “Eric Cioti only speaks for himself. He must leave the presidency of the Republicans.” The president of the Senate, fellow Republican Gerard Larcher, called for Cioti’s resignation. Some senators announced they were leaving the party.

Ciotti, faced with criticism from his co-religionists, defended himself: “There is a huge difference between what one hears in Paris, the discussions of the (parties’) general staffs, and what the foundation tells me in the city, Nice, or elsewhere: ‘Agreed.'”

The split of LR, if it happens, would mark the end of a demolition process that began in 2017, when Macron, after winning his first election, launched a takeover bid on the party and brought figures like Le Maire and Darmanin into his government. He subsequently governed by occupying the centre-right space and gradually eroded this political space.

In the 2017 presidential elections, the LR candidate, François Fillon, obtained 20% of the vote, although he did not qualify for the second round. In the 2022 elections, candidate Valérie Pécresse fell to 4.8%. This party, which for decades held hegemony in France alongside the Socialists, today forms the fourth group of representatives in the National Assembly. In the European competitions it ranked fifth with 7.25%.